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A black-and-white photo of a man standing outside with his left hand on the seat of a wooden bicycle.

Hand-built bicycle tells a historical story of a colourful, Ontario teen

Camas Clowater-Eriksson

The Billings Estate National Historic Site is currently displaying a curious wooden bicycle. It was hand built in the late 1890s by a teenager named James Henry Blair, using materials scavenged off his father’s Gloucester farm. Artifacts at the Canada Science and Technology Museum give us a rare chance to explore the mindset of this young inventor as he puzzled through the process of how to build a bicycle with limited resources.

The very first Zar Zar-Car automobile / microcar, Windsor, Ontario. Arthur Prévost, “La première auto entièrement canadienne bientôt en vente!” Le Petit Journal, 25 October 1959, 67.

Road Transportation

In search of a Canadian car: The Zar of all the Windsors

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

How you doin’, my reading friend? That well? Great. Are we ready for another journey down the autobahn of memory? Great. Yours truly has a topic that should be reasonably interesting, and this even though said topic might not be safe to drive on an autobahn. I found the article at the heart of our topic while perusing issues of Le Petit Journal, a weekly from Montréal, Québec, which went bye bye in January 1978. The issue we are interested in today came out 60 years ago, on 25 October 1959. Even

An infographic with four feature images of bicycles and other artifacts from the Shields collection.

Collection Development

Ingenium's big move: Packing Canada's largest bicycle collection

Camas Clowater-Eriksson

VIEW INFOGRAPHIC It’s no secret that Ingenium is gearing up for a big move. As staff busy themselves with this mammoth task, let us take a moment to fully appreciate just one of the MANY collections being packed up for the journey to the new Collections Conservation Center. Did you know that the Canada Science and Technology Museum holds the largest collection related to the history of bicycle technology in Canada? The Shields Collection contains over 3,000 items from the early nineteenth

One of the River Rover prototype shortly before it went to Nepal. Anon., “Technology – River Rover hovers in a tight corner.” New Scientist, 16 November 1978, 80.

Road Transportation

Why didn’t somebody tell me that he had one of those… things? Part 2

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

Good day to you, my reading friend. Do you remember what the topic of this week’s issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee? One or more hovercraft? Very good. Let us begin. Once upon a time, around 1968-69 to be more precise, the Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF), a Christian organisation whose main operational centres were / are in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, was active in the Lake Chad area of Africa. The fluctuating water levels of this once huge body of water meant

Guy Mayer at the controls of his single seat hovercraft, Betton, England. Anon., “À 7 ans, il conduit son aéroglisseur.” Le Petit Journal, 17 August 1969, 22.

Road Transportation

Why didn’t somebody tell me that he had one of those… things? Part 1

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

How do you do, my reading friend? Well? That is wonderful. Let us channel the spirit of our inner Joker, à la John Joseph “Jack” Nicholson of course, and peer into the history of air cushion vehicles, or hovercraft, and… Fear not, brave heart, we shall dwell upon a teeny weeny episode of that history, unfortunately. The episode that concerns us this week had / has to do with a British gentleman by the name of Peter Mayer. Yours truly wishes I could you provide with some information on the early

Detail of a bookplate to a publication entitled, "Le sport velocipedique."

Road Transportation

A ride through the evolution of the bicycle (Part 3)

Kristy von Moos

Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

PART 3 – The Dawn of the Safety Bicycle, 1880s - 1900 In honour of Bike Month (May 27-June 30), the Ingenium Channel is pleased to share a short series on the history of the bicycle, as supported by Ingenium’s beautiful collection. As shown in parts one and two, even though improvements on early designs opened up cycling to a greater number of people, the high wheel bicycle was dangerous, and not everyone was willing to ride a tricycle. Many riders wanted something as fast and fun as an Ordinary

A woman doing a trick on a modified "safety" high wheel bicycle

Road Transportation

Packing the Lorne Shields Collection

Camas Clowater-Eriksson

As anyone who visits The Channel regularly should know, the Canada Science and Technology is preparing for a big move into its new Collections Conservation Center. As the summer intern for Collections and Research, I’m not involved in the packing. Instead, I’ve been given the task of researching the Lorne Shield’s collection – a vast collection of bicycles, bicycle-related ephemera and literature ranging from the early history of the bicycle in the 19th century to the modern day. As I explore

Postcard showing the difference between a high wheel Ordinary and a smaller, safer Ordinary.

Road Transportation

A ride through the evolution of the bicycle (Part 2)

Kristy von Moos

Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

PART 2: The Velocipede, Ordinary, and Tricycle (1860s – 1890) In honor of Bike Month (May 27-June 30), the Ingenium Channel is pleased to share a short series on the history of the bicycle, as supported by Ingenium’s beautiful collection. As shown in part one of this history of the bicycle, early machines looked very different than the modern bicycles we know today. Today — in part two — we explore the next steps on this journey: The Velocipede, The Ordinary, and the Tricycle.

A gentleman on a crossframe safety bicycle escorts a gentleman on a high wheeler and a lady on a tricycle, circa 1890.

Road Transportation

A ride through the evolution of the bicycle

Kristy von Moos

Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

With the happy arrival of spring, bikes are being dusted off and brought out of hiding for the new season. In honour of Bike Month (May 27-June 30), the Ingenium Channel is pleased to share a short series on the history of the bicycle, as supported by Ingenium’s beautiful collection. Today, cycling is a part of daily life for millions of people around the world. Most ride on two wheels with air-filled tires, using handlebars to steer the front wheel and pedals to power the back wheel through a

One of the 3 Kharkovkiy Zavod Transportnogo Mashinostroyeniya imeni Malysheva Project 404 all terrain vehicles operated by the 4th Soviet Antarctic expedition of 1958-60. Anon., “Ça et là.” La Patrie du dimanche, 3 May 1959, 12.

Road Transportation

The igloomobile or, A mobile home like no other

Rénald Fortier

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

My reading friend whose wrath reaches the stars, I humbly beg you to forgive the non-aeronautical topic of this issue of our blog / bulletin / thingee. My main excuse is that last week’s peroration revolved around Antarctic expeditions in the 1930s. A second topic on the same continent seemed most appropriate to me. Reading the short text that accompanied the photo above, published in the 3 May 1959 issue of La Patrie du dimanche, a weekly from Montréal, Québec, which disappeared a few decades

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